Island



No. 608,500. Patented Aug. '2, I898. V. M. WILSON, In.

AERIAL TOY (Application filed Aug. 17} 2997.)

'(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFECE VOLNEY M. WILSON, JR., OF PROVIDENCE, RI-IODEISLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-lIALF TO CHARLES H. KITTREDGE, OF SAME PLACE.

AERIAL TOY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 608,500, dated August 2,1898.

Application filed August 1 '7, 1 89 7- To all whom itrmcty concern:

Be it known that I, VOLNEY M. WILSON, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State ofRhode Island, have invented certain new and usefulImproveincntsin AerialToys; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accoinpanying drawings, and tdletters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in aerial toys; and it consists,essentially, of a toy parachute having a movable equalizingweightattached thereto and arranged whereby after the closed parachute hasbeen projected into the air the said weight will cause the device to tipor deviate in its flight sufficiently to allow the Weight to drop out ofthe seat formed in the topof the parachute, and since the weight ispermanently attached or connected to the lower end of the parachute theformer in falling will be arrested by it, thereby not only maintainingthe parachute in a substantially vertical position during its descent,but at the same time the initial action of the suddenly-released weightinsures the filling or inflation of the parachute with atmospheric air,so that the device will fall slowly and gracefully to the ground.

The object I have in view is to produce a comparatively inexpensive toyparachute which may be easily shot or projected into the air, theconstruction being such that the parachute will automatically open uponarriving at-the end of its upward flight and upon returning to the earthmay be again projected into the air, all as will be more fully chute inthe air at the end of its flight at the instant the weight isautomatically released from its seat; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation,

in reduced scale, showing the parachute ingerial No: 648,555. (Nomodel.)

flated or distended by the atmospheric air impinging against. its underside, the fallen weight at the same time keeping the device practicallyupright during its gradual descent to the earth.

I would state that the construction and arrangement of the parts asrepresented in the drawings relate more particularly to a small or toyparachute wherein the diameter of the upper or expanding head portion ais, say, some twelve to fifteen inches. The said upper or umbrella-likehead a may be made of suitable thin light foldable material, as paper,cloth, lire. Its shape may be varied orv changed as desired, although inany case it should be such that it is readily inflatable andcollapsible. A light wooden stick hextends through the center of and issecured to the said head portion a and is provided at the extreme topend with a seat or recess 6. As drawn, a ring or runner? r is mounted toslide freely on the member I). To the said ring are secured a number ofshort flexible connections d, attached in turn to the periphery of theparachute-head. The latter may be reinforced or stayed at saidattaching-points and also further provided with raproject the parachuteinto the air with coni siderable force. I have represented in Fig. 1 oneform of suchprojecting means. In this case the handle it carries at itsupper end h an elasticband f. In. lieu of this holder an air-gun orbow-gun or other analogous device may be used.

In using the parachute forming the subject of my present application'forpatent the operator holds the handle member h in one hand, while withthe other he places the lower end of the rod 1) in the loop of therubber band f, as shown in Fig. 1, the parachute at the same time beingclosed .and having the ball to resting in the seat 11'." The operatornext stretches the band f by pulling it downward, say, to thedotted-line position, Fig. 1, thereby placing the band underconsiderable tension. Now upon suddenly releasing the fingers from thestick and band the latter instantly contracts and returns to its normalposition, its reaction or resiliency at the same time projecting theclosed parachute upwardly to a height corresponding to the force of thespring or band used. IVhen the parachute in its flight has attained itsfull height, the force of gravity will cause its upper end, then beingthe heaviest by reason of the equalizing-weight w, to tip until theweight drops from its seat I). (See Fig. 2.) The weight then instantlyfalls to its limit as determined by the length of cord attached to thestick 1), thereby swinging the parachute back to a vertical or nearlyvertical position, the action of the weight also at the same time for aninstant quickly drawing the parachute downwardly through the air untilthe latter inflates or expands the head portion a, as shown in Fig. 23,after which the whole gently sinks to the earth unless the force of thewind meanwhile deviates it from its course. In order to arrest theupward movement of the ring a when the parachute is inflated, I mayemploy a stop '1, as shown.

In experiments made with my improved parachute I have discovered thatthe weight of the ball or member ashould bear a certain relation to thatof the parts a and b. I find,

too, that the weight upon falling from the seat 1) swings back and forthin a pendulum-like manner from the end of the stick, and this movementis imparted to the parachute in a less degree until all soon becomenearly sta tionary with respect to any sidewise or oscillatory movement.

I am aware that projectile toys have been devised prior to my presentinvention wherein in one case a folded parachute or even a series ofthem is provided with an object or load arranged to keep the parachutein position after it has become inflated; but in such former devices theweight or object was not adapted, as in my improvement, to change thecenter of gravity of the toy, the weight at the same time automaticallydropping freely a fixed distance, thus insuring that the parachute willopen suddenly by reason of the acceleration of the speed of the fallingweight.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by United States LettersIatent l. The combination, in a toy parachute, of a stick or red memberZ1 extending through the top of the flexible umbrella-like portion, aseat formed in the upper end of said stick, and a weight memberconnected bya cord to the lower part of the stick adapted to be looselymounted in said seat, substantially as hercinbefore described and [orthe purpose set forth.

2. In a fold able toy parachute substantially as described having adownwardly-extending central stick or red member secured to its upperpart, a llexible connection a attached to the lower end of said stick, aweight member w secured to the free end of said connection, and a seatlocated in the top end of the parachute adapted to contain said weightwhile the device is being shot upwardly into the air.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my sig nature in presence of twowitnesses.

VOLNEY M. \VILSON, Jn.

\Vitnesses:

Gno. II. REMINGTON,

tnMINe'roN SHERMAN.

